More of this Feature • Part 1: Local Miss Arizona competitions • Part 2: Who can compete to become Miss Arizona? • Part 3: Miss Arizona Pageant 2002 • Part 4: Miss Arizona Pageant Contestants 2002 • Part 5: Laura Lawless, Miss Arizona 2002

Related Resources • Miss Arizona 2000 • Miss Arizona 2001 • Miss Arizona Pageant Photo Gallery: 2001 • Miss Arizona Pageant Photo Gallery: 2002

From Other Guides • Modeling Contests

Elsewhere on the Web • Miss Arizona Scholarship Foundation • Miss America Organization

There are young women who imagine themselves as Olympic athletes. There are others who dream of starring in a Broadway musical. And then there are those whose goal is to accept the Miss America crown in Atlantic City, New Jersey. How does it happen? Whom do you call to get in the pageant? 

First of all, it is important to know that the national organization does not sponsor any "Mini", "Little Miss" or "Teen" pageant. In some areas, local pageants may have such competitions as fund raisers for their local scholarship program, but there are no "Miss America" pageants for women under the age of 17.

The first step is a local competition in a community within Arizona. The winners of these local competitions then compete for the Miss Arizona title. Miss Arizona goes to the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City. Simple, eh? Well, besides looking the part, it also takes a great deal of hard work to compete for and win the title of Miss Arizona.

Local and state pageants throughout the country are run under the same guidelines, which have been changed for 2002. There are four phases of competition for the Miss Arizona Pageant:

• Interview - 40% of final score. Each Miss Arizona contestant has an interview with the panel of judges.
• Talent - 30% of final score. Live, on-stage talent, 2 minutes.
• Evening wear - 10% of score. Includes an on-stage question.
• Swimsuit - 10% of score. Looking for a statement of physical fitness.
• During preliminaries, the final 10% will come from an over-all evaluation of the Miss Arizona contestant's on stage response to the two questions. During the final night competition, the final 10% will come from the "top 5" interview - the top five Miss Arizona contestants sit in a semi-circle and each is asked questions by the on-stage host.

The  interview is now worth the most points in the competition, whereas talent used to be the focus. Each competitor in the Miss Arizona Pageant chooses her own personal platform of community service - a chance to make a positive impact on America's youth.

In other words, the Miss Arizona Pageant concentrates on talent, public speaking, community service and physical fitness. According to Stephen Rich of the Miss Arizona Scholarship Foundation, "interested young women can work on all of these areas any time in their lives."

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© 2002 Judy Hedding, licensed to About.com